Customer Reviews

Tinseltown Rebellion

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Hello. This album features the 1980/81 live band attacking a wide variety of tracks, some new, some going back to Frank's early days. For the most part, these are some of Frank's more caustic tracks. He definitely had an axe to grind with record labels and various other groups of people, so if those kinds of tracks turn you off, avoid this album. Otherwise, I'd recommend it but would refer Zappa newbies to other albums like _Lather_. There are some great tunes here, but I feel you need to be somewhat familiar with Zappa's style first.

One thing no other reviewers have mentioned is that, along with _You Are What You Is_, this album was remastered in 1998 by Spencer Chrislu. When Frank was working on this album, he was apparently experiementing with some new digital effects and managed to mess up the audio in the process. After fans complained, this album was quietly remastered and re-released. Unfortunately, neither album has any sort of label on the front, although YAWYI has a blurb about the '98 remastering in its liner notes. To see if you have a bad version, check "For the Young Sophisticate." If the length is 2:36, your copy is the old one. If it's 2:48, it's new.

Tinsle-Town Rebellion is a pretty solid album that hints at some of the excesses of Zappa's tours in the early 80s -- a proclivity toward podestrian reggae beats, a little heavy on broad extended synth lines, and humor overpowering attention to the music. What saves this album is the material and the band which, frankly, had chops. Vinnie Colaiuta makes this album worthwhile -- and while the effect of his textured playing doesn't create quite the same explosive combination with FZ as it did on Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar, his playing was incomparable, even in FZ's catalogue. Arthur Barrow on bass is another plus -- his slap technique and funk lines adds a lot of energy to some of the tracks. Steve Vai provides some stunt guitar for those who are interested in Vai (not me, certainly).

The album, somewhat awkwardly, begins with a studio track, FINE GIRL -- a rather harmless, catchy piece of misogyny. The rest of the album is live -- starting with a rousing, full performance of EASY MEAT. Some run throughs of songs from Zappa's early catalogue are pretty wasteful. There's really nothing extraordinary about them, save maybe a cute new edition of TELL ME YOU LOVE ME, and the first release of the Leather song FOR THE YOUNG SOPHISTICATE, which is a bluesy little ditty not without merit. NOW YOU SEE IT - NOW YOU DON'T is a reggae-backed grinder of a solo by FZ that meanders a bit, but comes off nicely, comparable to the lesser tracks on Shut Up. There's two tracks of stage theatrics which are funny, but a lot less musically charged than the stunts pulled by the Roxy Band (Be-Bop Tango) or even, dare I say it, the Flo'n'Eddie lineup.

The second half of this album is what makes it for me. Most of the material is original, and the two oldies are both worthwhile. THE BLUE LIGHT is one of my favorite FZ songs -- a funky monster of a track that contains some rather esoteric lyrics. TINSLETOWN REBELLION, the title track, is a venemous shot at the Punk movement with a ton of hooks that ape musical style. PICK ME, I'M CLEAN (like EASY MEAT, I think this was also, curiously, a Flo'n'Eddie number) is a lively song with a great solo. The punch-gut blues of BAMBOOZLED BY LOVE is a charm, if you can look past the rather morbid lyrics. BROWN SHOES DON'T MAKE IT and PEACHES III (Peaches En Regalia) are great closers. Two of the best songs from FZ's early career, in my opinion. This is actually my preferred version of Brown Shoes, and Peaches is always magnificient.

A pretty good album that maybe runs a little too long. Not essential, except maybe for the presence of Colaiuta, but a good one for fans of FZ and this period.

this may not be the best frank zappa album but still, it is worthy of 5 stars. 1981 was a good year for zappa fans. he released the great you ar what you is , which mercilessly attacks american culture and vacuity. also his guitar masterpiece shut up n play your guitar. he also released this album, which has gotten a bad rep over the years from some so called zappa fans. This is a great album. I wasn't expecting that much from it when i bought it because i had read quite a lot of bad things about it. Well don't believe all you read. It is a collection of live recordings from concerts around 80-81. We have Vinnie Colaiuta on drums, arthur barrow on bass, ike willis, steve vai, ed mann, denny walley, tommy mars, and of course the world famous ray white. The first tune is actually a studio cut, ' fine gril', it is a good song. Then one of the most awesome things you'll ever hear. Easy meat. Starts off...Ike singing away, he sings two verses, then we get this wonderfully cheesey 'classical section' which was overdubbed by tommy mars on keyboards. It is like Beethoven on drugs. Then there is some piano sounds and we go into a guitar solo of galactic proportions. It is one of Frank's great guitar moments, he is brilliantly aided and abetted by the rhythm section. Then back into the song via more Mars overdubbage. Then the band do some great remakes of old songs. Love of my life, i ain't got no heart, tell me you love me. Classic vocal performances on the doowop song. THe young sophisticte makes its 1st appearance on this album. It is not a sgood as the lather version, but it still rocks. Warren Sophia excels on this track. Frank introduces the band via 'the panty rap', which is an amusing bit of conceptual continuity. He makes fun of someone who can't spell:'This is a college educated community huh? WEAR, spelt W-E-R-E. Never mind'. We are then treated to another magnificent guitar solo on ' now you see it now you don't'. And 'dance contest' gives us a flavour of the audience participation that accompanied these shows. the title track is a great song which rocks. (check out the 'doe humor belong in music?' video for the ultimate version). also the blue light, a strange but fascinating song. pick me i'm clean-a classic. a song about groupies with a white hot guitar solo. bamboozled by love delivers also. then some more remakes-brown shoes is great as is peaches III. the later features some inspirational guitar from warren and frank's famous 'let's hear it for another great Italian' quote. Buy this album now. Thank you.

Great band, but not a very good selection of tunes in my opinion. This band is better represented elsewhere. However, you should buy it for Brown shoes, which manages to get a thorough reworking and still sound alarmingly similar to that great 1967 version. Hasn't lost any of its relevance either.

With guys like Steve Vai and Vinnie Colaiuta (amongst others) playing, you can't go wrong. This live CD features energized versions of Zappa's earlier material and contains fantastic and often unbelievable musicianship. You won't believe people can play music this way. Incredible!

This was one of my first Zappa albums, and I still play it from time to time. It's not as good as some of the later albums I picked up, but it's still worthwhile. There is plenty here to please all Zappa fans, such as the amazing guitar work on Easy Meat (and Vinnie Colauita's amazing drumming), and there are some excellent remakes of earlier songs. The song Love of My Life from Ruben and the Jets is much better on this album, with a great Zappa vocal and Bob Harris's excellent falsetto vocals. Tell Me You Love Me is more dynamic than the Chunga's Revenge version. I may be one of the few people who likes the new version of Brown Shoes Don't Make It. I think it's better than the original. I don't like Peaches III at all, even when I first picked up the album (I hadn't heard the original version at that time). Now You See It, Now You Don't is an excellent Zappa instrumental (despite a rather lame title). Now, there is average/mediocre material here. The "songs" Panty Rap and Dance Contest are really just Zappa sounding like a sleazy carnival/strip show hawker while the band just doodles (even though there's a brief drum breakout by Vinnie on Panty Rap). Some of the lyrics are very smug, like on The Blue Light, where Zappa obsesses about ugly, waxy cheese and lame Shakey's customers. It sounds almost Gen Xish, "ironic", and that type of thinking I've always hated. But on the flip side, the title song is still good today. Zappa goes on about the demise of the music business (I love the line "and pray that the business don't collapse"), which is still going on today. This is still a good album, even though I don't like it as much as I used to.

As brilliant a musician and composer that Frank Zappa was, he has a few releases that just don't make the mark. Tinsel Town Rebellion is such a release, which unfortunately drags the listener into some of Zappa's bitter battles with record companies.

From the start, Zappa was embattled with record company idiots who also found themselves ripe subject material for some of his compositions. That bitterness, however, reached a zenith at the time of this album's release in 1981, most notably over the release and packaging of Lather, a work in progress at the time. To make a long story short, Zappa intensified efforts with his own record company, being his own publisher and created a start-of-the-art recording studio in his home.

His bitterness and anger with the record companies found its way into some of the pieces recorded on Tinsel Town Rebellion, especially in the title track. And sad to say, his personal difficulties with the record companies detract from the album.

Despite the three stars, however, it is still well worth having because of the exceptional live productions of "Tell Me You Love Me," "The Blue Light," "Pick Me I'm Clean," and a revamped version of the classic "Brown Shoes Don't Make It."

TTR is worth buying for "Pick Me I'm Clean" and "The Young Sophisticate"! There is some other good stuff here too but those two are standouts for me. Another version of "Peaches ..." is a bonus.

While this is probably my least favorite Zappa album it does have its moments. Give it a try, but wait until you have some of his other albums.

The song TTR and Frank's other vehicles for 'skewering' of the 'establishment' and contemporary musical styles is often what started to push me away from Frank. The last few bands he toured laughing at themselves throughout the sets because they were so funny cracking themselves up and the stream of songs making fun of drugs and boobs and sex and drugs and boobs and the narcissistic view he had of his own improv'd guitar solos started me to kind of rethink his creativity and his motto on contemporary composers. At the time it was the punks and the new wavers that were trying something new. The underground punk scene in particular with their gonzo / guerilla tapes often made in their bedrooms and tape traded around the world were doing new and creative stuff... often miles away more creative than Frank's 'funny' and 'naughty' songs and "improvised" guitar solos and fake cut and pasted "live" recordings. Some of these punkers and underground musicians weren't just at the edge they were over the edge. Frank wasn't anywhere close to them in some cases as far as creativity goes and pushing boundaries. Even the underground metal scene at the time was really working on new stuff along with the electronic underground with industrial sounds and techno sounds beginning to emerge. Even Frank started to "give up" on real bands playing together and going for electronically faked music. Even his own back catalog was "remastered" with fake instruments taking the place of original live musicians and poor 'digital' remixes and remasters going out of his classic albums.

In TTR instead of showing off what a great forward think composer he is, he makes fun of processed pop groups. Well yeah. Duh. The rest of the album is mix and matched live stuff and older material. Where for art thou great contemporary composer? Where for art thou great forward thinker? Oh he's on stage getting girls to give up their panties in an ironic way to make fun of them...Tom Jones is calling, he want's his Vegas show back...

I do like Frank for what he was - the ultimate progressive rock group. Though I'm sure he'd be making fun of The Flower King's and The Mars Volta and Porcupine Tree if he were around today... He's got some great improv's, some great bands and there are essential albums and key essential live sets. This isn't one of them and his condescension and his snobbery and his narcissism eventually begins to grate. Humor does belong in music, but the joke was wearing quite thin by this point.